


A Voice Like Honey

by Panic_At_The_Disney



Series: Solangelo One-Shots [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Anxiety, Autistic Nico di Angelo, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Hurt Nico di Angelo, M/M, Nico di Angelo Needs a Hug, One Shot, Panic Attacks, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23910823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panic_At_The_Disney/pseuds/Panic_At_The_Disney
Summary: Meeting Will Solace might just be the best thing that's ever happened to Nico.Solangelo one-shot.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060127
Comments: 17
Kudos: 232
Collections: Have read this didn't forgot to save





	A Voice Like Honey

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of self-hate and descriptions of panic attacks and sensory overload. Please be safe and don't read this if it might trigger you.
> 
> EDITED FOR MISTAKES AS OF 7/6/20

Nico clutched the weighted blanket around his shoulders. It was a gift from Will for when he couldn't stand physical contact but needed that pressure around him. It kept him grounded, made him feel real.

Will sat patiently on the bed with him, not touching. Will was always so patient. He knew Nico better than anyone. Knew all his dirty little secrets, and helped him. Not many people knew about Nico's disorders. He didn't get ADHD and dyslexia like other demigods. Instead, he got autism and severe anxiety.

It was hard to have both at once, because there were times when the two disorders seemed to battle each other. His autism begged for touch, love, comfort, and to trust everyone. Meanwhile, his anxiety had him panicking every time someone came near him.

Will found solutions, though. There was the weighted blanket, and other things, too. He'd gotten Nico one of those candles that was made out of little slippery beads instead of actual wax and a wick, so he could use the smell and the feel of the beads for sensory, but not have to worry about the cabin burning down while he went to train in the arena.

Then there was the water balloon Will had the Hecate cabin put a spell on so it would never break. Nico played with that all the time. Or the LEGOs and divided tray, because Will knew nothing calmed Nico down like sorting things and making them look perfect.

And then there were the intangible things.

The way Will would speak to Nico softly when he was panicking.

The way he always waited for Nico's permission before he went to touch him.

The way he didn't do anything in public because he knew it made Nico's anxiety go crazy.

The way he was perfectly content to sit on the couch with Nico, not touching, just sitting. Sometimes he would read a book to Nico, since the son of Hades would lose interest when he was reading it himself. He loved the sound of Will's voice, though. He could listen to it for hours.

He wished he could hear it now.

Nico whimpered, ducking his head beneath the blanket.

"Nico, can I touch you?"

Nico peaked one eye out from under the blanket. "How?"

"Can I hold you in my lap like we did a few days ago?"

"Yeah," Nico breathed.

Will shifted closer, pulling Nico onto his lap. He loosely wrapped his arms around the younger boy. Nico whined, pulling Will's arms tighter around him. He needed the contact, craved it. He'd been touch-starved for too long.

That was what Will called it. Touch-starved. The term seemed to fit. Nico needed contact like other people needed food. He longed for it, and was denied it for too long.

He'd had too many people look at him in disgust. He recalled the way he would be put in a hospital for being gay back in Italy. The only touching there would be prodding and poking to test his limits. He remembered his father, and the way Hades frowned down at him. He was only an object to his father, a place to dump unwanted chores. Nico's job was to do the things other people didn't want to do. Like carrying the Athena Parthenos. Or going through Tartarus . . .

Nico twisted in Will's lap, grabbing the son of Apollo's shirt and burying his face in it. Visions flashed behind his closed eyes.

The sulfurous red air.

The twisting and curving river of fire.

The grotesque face of Misery.

His blood, dropping to the ground from a wound in his arm.

Tartarus wasn't just actual Hell. It was sensory hell, too. Nothing you could feel there was comforting. And yet Nico needed to feel it. Nothing in particular, just something. Anything. He needed to... he needed to feel... feel what?

Loved?

Appreciated?

Wanted?

How was he supposed to feel that if the only touch he got was from himself? He didn't love himself. He didn't appreciate himself. And he definitely didn't want to stay this way.

But Will...Will was different. Both in the way he felt about Nico and the way he made Nico feel.

Will loved him.

Will appreciated him.

Will wanted him.

And as for how he made Nico feel...

Loved.

Appreciated.

Wanted.

If the term for not being touched was touch-starved, then Nico was going to get fat from the affectionate touching Will gave him.

It was still hard sometimes. There were times where Nico couldn't be touched; he just couldn't handle it. He felt too much panic and too much pain to feel any of the affection from Will.

But he could hear it.

So Will spoke.

He told Nico everything. Everything he would feel when Will touched him was provided in that smooth honey voice of Will's.

Will ran his hand through Nico's hair, and Hades if Nico didn't feel a thousand things from that one touch. It was a lot, maybe too much, but not the kind that gave him panic attacks. No, this was the kind that made Nico feel so loved his body wasn't quite sure how to contain it.

It was insane, really, how much Will loved him. Nico couldn't fathom it, but Will had no problem coming up with a long list of why he loved Nico.

And every time he whispered those reasons in Nico's ear, like he was doing now, Nico started to believe them a little bit more.

Touch meant affection. It meant love. Appreciation. Want.

But he could feel those things other ways, too.

So touch wasn't just physical contact.

It was emotional contact, too. Connection. Bond.

And even on the days that Nico chose the weighted blanket over Will's arms, even on the days he couldn't feel that physical contact, he felt that emotional contact every day.

Every day... as long as he was with Will.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love constructive criticism! Have an awesome day!


End file.
